Jan 16, 2017 4 min read

KANSAS CITY, Mo. – The Kansas City Chiefs aren’t shy about broadcasting the fact they have the loudest stadium in the NFL.

A full page was dedicated to this tidbit in their weekly press release. And it’s often flashed on video screens at Arrowhead Stadium.

Yet, crowd noise wasn’t a factor Sunday night in Pittsburgh’s 18-16 victory over the Chiefs in an AFC Divisional Playoff game.

The Steelers had four penalties, but none were false starts by the offensive line or anything that could be attributed to crowd noise.

“That was surprising. We were working on that all week,” said Steelers right tackle Marcus Gilbert. “That was the loudest stadium we’ve played in all season. We’re battle-tested and ready. We didn’t really bite ourselves on the field, we just need to do better in the red zone. I like what I saw out of our guys, coming into a hostile environment where it was so loud it was ridiculous. We didn’t have any communication issues.”

Though the Steelers didn’t have noise-related issues, they did have trouble getting the football into the end zone. Pittsburgh was 0-for-4 scoring touchdowns when they moved the ball inside the Kansas City 20-yard line and relied on an NFL playoff-record six field goals by Chris Boswell to score its 18 points.

It was the second time in five games Boswell has attempted six field goals. He also had six in a 24-20 win Dec. 18 at Cincinnati.

Red-zone offense wasn’t a major issue for the Steelers this season. They ranked 12th in the league scoring touchdowns inside the 20. And they had plenty of offensive success against the Chiefs as Le’Veon Bell broke his own team postseason rushing record by running for 170 yards, and quarterback Ben Roethlisberger passed for 224. The Steelers punted only one time.

“We moved the ball up and down the field,” Roethlisberger said. “But I give credit to their defense. They kept us out (of the end zone).”

The Steelers know they can’t rely on the right leg of Boswell exclusively as a means of scoring points when they play at New England Sunday in the AFC Championship. Gillette Stadium might not be as loud as Arrowhead Stadium, but it figures to be plenty hostile with a trip to the Super Bowl on the line.

“There are a lot of things we have to do to be successful,” Roethlisberger said. “(The Patriots) are the best in the world for a reason. (It’s not) an easy test. We have to score points. We can’t turn the ball over.”

The win against the Chiefs was the Steelers’ ninth consecutive, the team’s longest winning streak since they won 14 straight in 2004. That winning streak came to an end against the Patriots in the AFC Championship (41-27) at Heinz Field in Roethlisberger’s rookie season. It’s also the last time the Steelers and Patriots met in a playoff game.

After holding the Chiefs to 227 total yards – the same yardage total Boswell’s six field goals covered – a week after limiting Miami to 305 yards and 12 points, the Steelers are confident their young defense is better prepared to hold up to New England’s explosive offense led by quarterback Tom Brady.

No matter how good the defense has been playing, scoring touchdowns is the key against Brady and the Patriots.

“It’s always (a bad) feeling when you can’t put up seven points,” said guard Ramon Foster. “Our defense played great. Our special teams played great. But we can’t afford to not score seven when we get down there. We’ll take a look at it this week and we’ll figure it out.”

The Steelers have 36 postseason wins, the most in league history. … The Steelers will be making their 16th appearance in the AFC Championship, while New England is in the conference title game for the 13th time. … Roethlisberger will be in his 20th career playoff game, passing Terry Bradshaw, Mel Blount and Franco Harris for the most in team history. … Linebacker James Harrison had his 11th career postseason sack against the Chiefs. He is tied with LaMarr Woodley for the most in team history, since it became an official statistic in 1982.